"His uninformed veto comments did not reflect the stringent details of the bill, rather, it parroted the talking points of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink," Haridopolos said in a statement issued by his legislative office.

Haridopolos and Crist -- who spent a good chunk of time campaigning together for GOP presidential nominee John McCain in 2008 -- disagreed about whether the bill would let leading lawmakers raise money during the legislative session, a practice that is currently banned.

Read his full statement below.

Statement by Senator Mike Haridopolos on HB 1207/SB 880

Yesterday, good government, transparency and accountability were cast aside. In vetoing the Florida transparency bill, Governor Charlie Crist denied Florida’s voters and the press an opportunity for greater transparency in politician’s and political organization’s contributions and expenditures.

Simply put, transparency equals accountability.

Politically, it is understandable that this legislation is problematic for the Governor. But what is indefensible is that Governor Crist failed to even read the bill. His uninformed veto comments did not reflect the stringent details of the bill, rather, it parroted the talking points of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink.

For example, Governor Crist’s claim that the bill would have allowed legislators to raise funds for campaigns during the legislative session is incredibly misinformed. In fact the bill did just the opposite, not only preventing legislators from raising funds during the legislative session, but also stopping what currently is allowable party related fundraising.

It is noteworthy that the governor is not required to follow the moratorium on fundraising during the session that I myself and all other legislators abide by. Because the Governor has specifically pointed out the importance of not raising campaign funds during session, does that mean he will discontinue his own fundraising during session and during the post-session veto period? Will Alex Sink do the same?

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